Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

25 years or so, ago, I pulled up the first census of Thomas Jefferson. And then I just marveled at the situation of reading a “copy” of the document. I just felt a thrill. This was the third President of the United States.

I just today pulled up and deciphered the first patent of William Randolph…the ancestor of said President Thomas Jefferson.

Here is the said patent for you nerdy types, like me, who get a kick out of such things… the land was situated on the Warwick Swamp in Prince George County, VA. It is not exact yet; several more patents are needed to fine tune the exact location.

…click the blue filename under the graphic to get a better view:

When I eventually fine tune this location…anyone will be able to pull up a Google Map image and zoom in exactly where this is on a modern map and walk outside, point a finger and say “this is where the great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson had his first land in Virginia”.

Someone has this farmland…

And no, I have not found a connection to that Reynard Anderson…but I am still looking…smiling

While I am thinking about it… not to slight the Library of Virginia (well, actually I am slighting them)…they have a super duper Search page for finding all the early patents. The problem is they used “ortho” film which is high contrast (and was the go to film back in the day)…however, if a tech photographer got a bit lazy (which they obviously did), then the details would get lost and blotched areas would result. Some simply are unreadable in Ortho. I will attach an example…

https://lva-virginia.libguides.com/land-grants

As a remedy, Familysearch.org has come to the rescue with conventional B/W film (not ortho) and this often gives a more easily read image. After joining/signing in, this link should work:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/koha:584564

The Library of Virginia link gives the Search feature with Book/Page details. I just automatically open both sites when I am hunting Virginia patents.

…click the blue filename under the graphic for a better view…

I think Traci the Librarian clued me in to this site… Of course, now there is the Familysearch.org site which is great… BUT! there is this one for all you nitpicking die hards who leave no stones unturned (you know who you are).

Go here… https://www.chowancounty-nc.gov/land-records

click here…

then here…

you’re in… https://us4.courthousecomputersystems.com/ChowanNCNW/application.asp?resize=true

Then play around until you figure it out…

This is the good stuff you are looking for…

I grabbed my oldest grandson some 8-10 years ago and drove from SW Florida to see Thomas Jefferson’s digs in Virginia. Good fun…drove thru Tarboro, visited Petersburg, VA, (the battlefield) it was hurried and too quick.

There is a tug in all of us to stand where they stood. I would drive by places in Edgecombe, NC and imagine where my ancestors may have lived. I drove around Isle of Wight, VA…same thing.

Most of my readers know I have a weird fascination with Indian Traders… probably because I grew up watching too many westerns on TV. Then there is Abraham Woods of Petersburg, VA. The man pretty much started it all…at least where Southside, VA is concerned. Take a walk around…imagine its 1638…

If you are not familiar with Google Maps “Street View” you are missing out…time to get up to speed.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/5fjgpLzQQACuCGmy6

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wood-1167

My latest map that I will never finish. If any Universities have a Graduate Program (with funds available), I am available to show how I do this …

…click the blue filename under the graphic for a better view

With the map open, scroll down from Petersburg and find the Nottoway River and note this patent:

Now imagine clicking on that patent and this opens up… (the detailed notes of how I researched the patent and created it). I cannot do this now…but just imagine… and for every patent on the map.

There is some hope for this younger generation after all…

The one and and only…

Cynthia (a commenter) rattled my cage about this guy… seems he settled for a time near the “Rapids” near Weldon. My continuing theory is that that whole area was a nest of Indian Traders who set up shop just after the Tuscarora War ended 1711/12 or so. So… whether Daniel Danbe was a trader or not (I do not know) is not her question…she just wants to know where he lived. I can’t place him exactly for various reasons but I can get close… (I suspect the actual “path” of the River has changed since the 1700s somewhat…hurricanes, floods…etc??? who knows, which does not help)

…click the blue filename below image for a better view

Here are some various clues which might help you folks interested in the area… my map is by no means completed.

…link to Big Map: https://andersonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2Chowan-Prec-WORKING.pdf

My theory of the Indian Traders: https://andersonnc.com/ttt-occoneechee-neck-indian-traders/

A commenter mentioned the name Rasor which piqued my curiosity. I had a suspicion it (his land) was somewhere around Edenton. So I pulled up my Chowan map: https://andersonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2chowan-prec-working-1.pdf

I did a hunt and found a few patents that “click”… I have not updated my larger map…this is a preliminary update.

I googled this up…

click the blue filename under the graphic for a better view…

Further…

All of which is just to help out any researchers interested in these folks… they are not on my personal radar (so I really have no further info). But you may wish to hash out details in the comments…

As I heard it as a kid…

This is a problem, fuzzy patent. More to the point, I have on occasion stated I am loathe to change Mother Nature’s handiwork, but this is a case where someone has to. The necessary details for me to accomplish my task are just not available… so I am left offering that tired old “educated guess”.

So to let off some steam after fighting with this conundrum for a few hours, here is William Jones, Indian Trader, from 1701.

…click the blue filename under the graphic for a better view

…the area is some miles south of Petersburg, VA… on Nottoway River

Four historic USGS base maps from 1894 t0 1919 converge just to the East of this patent…so there is a bit of a mismatch in my patchwork… all of this early work was accomplished with drafting tools on drafting tables and was hand draw… I would not be surprised if much of the text was hand lettered.. (and very well done). This is beautiful work, if I may offer a Nerd’s opinion. Further, since these are multiple colored maps, each color had to be drawn separately and overlayed (registered/aligned)… very tedious work.

I work strictly from computers today… but I have fond memories of the past and buggy whips, I suppose. And yes, in the early 80’s I did a gig for about a year working at a county level mapping department… not as a mapper, per say, but as a graphics guy… but I peeked over shoulders and noticed things…

Occasionally I run across a patent that just amazes me, such is the case here. I’m investing myself in a new map, calling it Southside Virginia (I’ll drag it out later when I get further along). My regular readers and occasional commenters know I am intrigued by Indian Traders, I put these guys as precursors to what Hollywood would latch onto and term the “Wild West” and “Cowboys and Indians”… the stuff that as a kid, I reveled in. I think that actors such as John Wayne, directors such as John Ford and Sam Peckinpah would have read of and studied the characters I am running across in my research… but that is my personal interest.

https://www.wfaa.com/video/entertainment/movies/mel-gibson-talks-about-taking-on-the-role-of-benjamin-martin-in-the-patriot-2000/287-87339356-74f2-45e3-bf1f-310658bd3f28

I stand in awe at the accuracy of the surveyors in 1722 who accomplished this patent. Note that the County Line is not only where it “should” be… it is precisely where it should be. This base map is from 1910 or so and I give a hat tip to the good folks at USGS for maintaining and making available these old historic maps. This is the reason for my motto of this blog” “meant what they said, said what they meant”… as I was putting the pieces together to create this graphic, I kept scratching my head and thinking this makes no sense and cannot possibly work. But I just let it play out and it did work… I have learned not to doubt the old boys.

…the nitty gritty details below…click on the blue filename under the graphic for a better view